Missing moral Issues

A flood of recent news stories have reported efforts to create a new coalitionan
"independent political force"of religious conservatives. Coordinated by
longtime conservative strategist Paul Weyrich, the leading players are James Dobson of
Focus on the Family and Gary Bauer of the Family Research Council. Their major attacks are
aimed at the Republican congressional leadership, who Dobson says "have shamefully
refused to address the moral issues on which they campaigned."

The public attacks have gone so far as to threaten a revolt from the Republican Party,
with Bauer considering a run for the presidency and Dobson proclaiming, "I will do
everything in my power to tell evangelical and pro-life Christians" of the
"moral and philosophical collapse of Republican leadership" unless his agenda is
passed.

The agenda they are demanding of Congress is defined by Dobson as the key
"pro-moral" issues. It includes passage of "school prayer" and
"school choice" legislation, opposition to abortion and rights for gays and
lesbians, defunding of the National Endowment for the Arts, and censoring pornography on
the Internet. Following several confrontational meetings with Dobson, Republican leaders
have promised a series of votes on these issues before the fall elections.

Conspicuously absent from this agenda is any legislation affecting those living in
poverty or addressing issues of racial justice. In the past year, religious conservatives
have vowed that they understood the importance of a Christian commitment to overcoming
poverty and racism. Despite these proclamations, those concerns are nowhere to be seen.

The new heads of the Christian Coalition, Randy Tate and Donald Hodel, are central to
the developing new coalition. One year after its highly publicized formation of the
"Samaritan Project," a set of proposals aimed at poverty and outreach to African
Americans, the Coalition has unceremoniously dumped the entire project.

There are "pro-moral" issues confronting our country today, issues that
Christians bear a responsibility to face. And while some of the issues raised by this new
coalition are important family issues, the agenda ignores some of the most crucial moral
issues facing our society.

THE GROWING REALITY of welfare "reform" is that millions of poor Americans
being eliminated from welfare are not finding work, but are instead entering into an
uncertain world of hunger and homelessness. Ministries ranging from the International
Union of Gospel Missions to Second Harvest, and studies by organizations from Tufts
University to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, are reporting unprecedented numbers of people
seeking emergency assistance.

Another group of Republicans, the "Renewal Alliance" led by Sen. Dan Coats,
has proposed a series of legislative initiatives on povertyincluding a charity tax
credit and efforts to restore the economic base of inner cities. Sen. Coats explained:
"[W]hen government retreats, problems remain, and confronting those problems is a
moral responsibility for our nation." None of these proposals, or any other
anti-poverty efforts, are in the list of demands being presented to Congress by Dobson and
company.

The religious community around the country is rising to the moral responsibility of
feeding the hungry and housing the homeless. But government also has a responsibility.
Nearly two years after eliminating assistance programs, it is incumbent on Congress to
review what has happened and to make corrections where necessary. Issues of child care,
transportation, job availability and readiness, a living family wage, and creating or
strengthening community support networks are being raised by churches and faith-based
ministries around the country. Many Christians are also working on racial reconciliation
and racial justice efforts in their communities.

These issues, rather than power plays within a political party, are where Christian
activists should be focusing their moral energies. Our fundamental commitment should
continue to be for those in our society who are left out and left behind, those who
continue to suffer even while the economy grows.

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